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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25281322">Some Lie</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldhour/pseuds/goldhour'>goldhour</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Knives Out (2019), Knives Out (2019) RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Feels, College, F/M, Heavy Angst, Unhealthy Relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:22:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,840</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25281322</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldhour/pseuds/goldhour</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She’s a hopeless romantic. He’s just hopeless.<br/>He’s lost. She’s waiting for him to find her.<br/>Read with caution.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ransom Drysdale/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Burn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This began as a writing challenge based on the Third Week Challenge hosted by @donutloverxo, @captain-a-rogerss and @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho. I chose the song Love The Way You Lie by Eminem Ft. Rihanna.<br/>I saw this idea while innocently surfing through fanfiction- Tumblr a few days ago, and the idea wouldn’t leave me alone, till I just stayed up till 3 one night and wrote the whole thing down. One thing lead to another, and now there’s a full short story idea in my head I fully plan on writing down. ;) Hope you enjoy!</p><p>Genre- Angst (so much of it, this is basically not a normal relationship at all. Please proceed with caution.). Romance.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>Burn</h1><p>
  <em> The one time I didn’t decide to stay at work. </em>
</p><p>Julia still regretted that, three weeks after the perilous mistake.</p><p>Three weeks after she’d faced the consequences too.</p><p>She exhaled heavily as she rubbed her hands over her aching eyes. Her food was bland. Her Spanish telenovela was getting old, even though she couldn’t speak a fully-correct sentence in Spanish. <em> I wish I had just chosen a different day. </em> Any <em> other day. </em>  </p><p>It didn’t matter that she knew she had a part in what they did just as much as he did. She knew what they’d done had been wrong.  She knew it was a woeful mistake she could never repeat again. But she would be damned if she told herself she hadn’t enjoyed it. That she didn’t long to commit that mistake again. <em> Over and over again. </em></p><p>If following her heart and giving in to Ransom’s seduction was wrong, she couldn’t summon the energy to want to be right.</p><p>She didn’t know what admitting that fact to herself meant. But boy did it feel good to finally give in to the guilt. To admit the fact that she’d used her only friend, and, she hated even thinking about it, a <em> business partner </em> in a moment of weakness, and let herself be used by him too.</p><p>She thought back to the words exchanged by the both of them that week and scoffed. <em> Some lies they had been. </em>She hadn’t been tired at all. She had been weak. She was a liar. Both of them were.</p><p>She shrunk further into her couch and hugged her knees to her chest. For some unknown reason, her mind had kept playing and replaying the same evening from her memory for three weeks. The evening when they’d both began. The evening that set the base for everything.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> It had been Julia’s first college party, and to no surprise, it was exactly as she had always envisioned it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Jules!” She heard her older brother, Mason, call out her name, drunk, loud, and completely oblivious of the world. He waved his hand in the air to be seen over the sea of bodies writhing and moving against each other. The dull red light gave the room a mysterious and provocative air, and Julia wasn’t feeling so good already. “Get over here!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Julia didn’t want to answer her brother’s calls. He was surrounded by his older and slightly intimidating friends, who were equally, if not more, drunk as her brother. She wanted to stay out and away from the main room, the dance floor, which she felt claustrophobic and scared just looking at. She wanted to stay close to the balcony. Close to the exit. At least that fact reassured her quite a bit. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Still. It was her brother. Everything about her brother had always promised safety and protectiveness. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She walked towards the dance floor, and him, anyway. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Jules,” he laid a heavy hand over her right shoulder. “You okay? You don’t look so happy. Or drunk,” he added in the end, squinting at her and bursting into low, familiar laughter. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “I’m…” she contemplated lying, but decided against it, “-really not enjoying much.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Her gaze turned into a glare as she smelt his foul breath and dilated eyes. His hair was a sweaty chaos, and his movements were heavy and ungainly. “How much have you had to drink, Mason?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> At his lazy grin, she shook his shoulders gently, trying to shake some sentience back into him. “Mason. How long have you been drinking?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “A while,” he finally mumbled, and took a deep breath. “I just need to drink this off, Jules, don’t worry about me.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Drink what off?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Hey, Mason!” some guy from the group of his friends standing just a few feet away yelled, signaling him to join them again. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He looked almost relieved, Julia noticed, getting more concerned by the minute. Something was most definitely wrong with him. It wasn’t in his character, at all, to drink so much at a party. He had always been her rock; her supportive, responsible rock, but what she saw of him was none of those things, and that unnerved her. More than she could explain. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Tell me, Mason… Dri-” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “They’re calling me, Jules,” his smile wasn’t even all that genuine. “You should leave if you’re not feeling great. It’s okay. I’ll just see you tomorrow, yeah?” He started walking backward towards his friends. “Good night, Jules.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She didn’t even get to respond to him before he turned away from her and walked towards the corner where his friends were standing. Almost all of them had their hoods up, which launched inexplicable butterflies of stress in her stomach. She slowly started walking away towards the balcony where she was standing watching the entire party take place, and as she did, she couldn’t help but notice them the moment they disappeared up the staircase as a few people came downstairs. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Her concern overtook her confusion. She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to shield herself from the cold she had suddenly started to notice more. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She turned away from the inside of the house to stare at the elegantly arranged backyard. Her mind was in a tumult, her thoughts strewn all over the place and blown out of proportion. She couldn’t remember the last time Mason had told her anything about… well, anything that was troubling him. Not that he ever did. Their relationship was a strange one. They were both as close as siblings could possibly be, but there was an insurmountable distance, a gap in communication, that left them both feeling lost and guilt-ridden in the time of need. She couldn’t keep her mind from going into overdrive. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> That was until he came to stand next to her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The first thing she noticed about his appearance was his massive height. The kind that would be a major and complete obstacle between her and the Sun, if there ever was one. He stood to her left, an unlit cigarette dangling carelessly from his faultless lips. She immediately turned her gaze away from him, and back towards the garden. Someone so beautiful couldn’t be stared at for very long without suffering on the starer’s part. It was like staring at the Sun, at its full glory, at midday.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She stayed quiet. She didn’t want to start the conversation, which was very unlike her, because she didn’t want him to feel pressured to answer. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Got a lighter?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Her surprise delayed her answer by a second before she shook her head. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Hold on, I think I do have one…” he murmured as he searched his jeans pockets, and took one out of the back one. He quickly, hungrily, lit the cigarette, the flame of the lighter burning a bright orange-red for a split second before being put out.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But that was not what completely stole Julia’s attention. It was his smooth and knowing administrations of the lighter and the cigarette that utterly enthralled and mesmerized her. It was stupid, really, but anything in his hands looked beautiful to her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “You want one?” his sky-blue eyes slid from her glazed ones to the cigarette. It took her a second to tear her eyes away from the orange-brown flame on the butt of the cigarette, still burning. Still bright. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “No, thank you.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “You sure?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Yep.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> That killed conversation for a few empty minutes, until he spoke again. “It’ll calm you down.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She hadn’t heard his low words. “What?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “The cigarette. It’ll help you relax.” </em>
</p><p><em> “I don’t need to relax.” </em>Lie.</p><p>
  <em> “You look like you really do.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Her mouth dropped open for a minute. “What makes you think so?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He shrugged, a cocky, smug movement of his broad shoulders. His lips were curved, as far as she could judge from his profile. “I don’t know. Your body language.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> That inexplicably got a rise out of her. “And you are a good judge of it?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> His face turned towards her, and she looked into his piercing, electric blue eyes for the first time. Julia felt herself trapped by his riveting, unwavering gaze. His mouth stretched into a beautiful, hellish, broad smile. “Usually.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She had nothing to say after that. She didn’t want to say anything to him after that- the smug, rakish, blue-eyed angel from Hell. Her own personal Hell.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She couldn’t give him the satisfaction. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Not that it worked for very long. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Actually, you know what?” she turned around so her back was now leaning on the railing, and she was completely facing the beautiful stranger. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer of yours.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The smirk on his clean, almost-gentlemanly face nearly destroyed her for anyone else after him. Or maybe it completely destroyed her, because she couldn’t have turned away from him then even if she wanted to. </em>
</p><p><em> He took one out of the pack in his pocket, and held it out to her. She amateurishly held it at her lips, trying to summon at least </em> half <em> of the confidence he’d had while doing so. Then he clicked the lighter on, and held it in front of the cigarette at her mouth. She tried to hold her concentration on her own mouth, and not his, which suddenly seemed  close then. The flame burned bright and beautiful just like before, her eyes drawn to it again. He snapped it shut, pulling her gaze back to his. </em></p><p>
  <em> “Pull,” he breathed. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She did as he told her. She took a deep, gentle pull… and instantly launched into a fit of choking coughs. </em>
</p><p><em> The moment was broken. Julia kept coughing and wheezing, her face blushing red out of exertion. It burned. It broke. It </em> seared <em> its way down her throat. He just went back to leaning against the railing on his arms, a laugh rumbling deep in his chest. “Well, that went well.” </em></p><p>
  <em> Her coughs subsided eventually, and she exclaimed in indignation and disgust, “Why the hell do people even smoke?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “To relax, sweetheart. I’ve told you that before.” he laughed, a melodic, deep sound she was immediately enraptured with. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Mm-hmm.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Would you like to try that again?” At her incredulous expression, he clarified. “Another way. It’ll be less… intense this way.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Julia was confused. “Really? How, exactly?” </em>
</p><p><em> He smiled, and in that moment, she could’ve sworn that it was something sinister, something </em> evil… <em> “Okay. Hold on, I’ll show you.” </em></p><p><em> He put his own cigarette in his mouth as Julia stared transfixed, took an incredibly, impossibly deep pull, and held it in his mouth, puffing out his cheeks comically for a second. And that was really when she realized what </em> exactly <em> was in his mind, but it was still a little too late because he had already taken a hold of her chin, gently, seductively, as he conveyed her to open up with his eyes. </em></p><p><em> His face was mesmerizingly close to hers. His vibrant, inviting eyes bore into hers, intent and… heat buried deep in them, and his mouth… It </em> almost <em> touched hers; his lips were a breath away. She could’ve blinked and they would’ve been kissing. </em></p><p>
  <em> But no. Her beautiful angel from Hell had everything playing exactly to his favor. She was stunned and completely consumed by his dominance, his control… his seductive power over her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Her mouth opened, and as he gently, slowly blew heavy, foul-smelling, yet addictive smoke into her mouth, and it wasn’t as bad as she’d expected it to be the second time around. It still burned her, it still hurt, but she liked the way it hurt. She craved more of it. She could imagine him blowing hurt into her, and she would take it every time. Again and again. If he was the one hurting her, it wasn’t something she cringed away from. Hurt hadn’t burned her this time around. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Hurt hadn’t ever felt so good, either. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> With his stormy yet clear-as-day eyes observing and studying every expression on her face, that was really when Julia realized that she didn’t even know what his name was. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “How do I still not know your name?”  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Because you haven’t told me yours yet,” he grinned at her slyly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “It’s Julia.” she was uncharacteristically diffident then. After everything they’d done and said to each other, she was shy while telling him her name. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Julia,” her name dropped from his lips like a prayer and a curse word; the voice of an angel and Satan himself. “Julia.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “I’m Ransom.” </em>
</p>
<hr/><p>As Julia’s lonesome, self-loathing evening passed, she felt herself slip. Her memories threatened to take her back to a better time, a more simple time.</p><p>An easier time.</p><p>She could’ve thought of a million more things they’d done right. She could’ve thought of a million squared things they’d done wrong. Things that she’d come to regret. Things she’d come to hate herself for. But she thought of none of it, because her doorbell rang at that moment.</p><p>Lifting herself up from the couch, she went to open the door, expecting it to be the pizza delivery guy. It could’ve been her neighbor asking for milk the third time that week. It could’ve been the neighbor’s cat, coming to ask for some milk.</p><p>But, as fate willed it, it wasn’t any of those people.</p><p>As she opened the door, her eyes met <em> his </em>. Those eyes. They had haunted her nights and ruined her days for weeks. Those eyes had broken her more times than she could count, and pulled her back together because that’s just what they did.</p><p>Those beautiful, <em> haunting </em> arctic-blue eyes.</p><p>Those <em> liar </em> eyes. They’d deceived Julia her entire life.</p><p>Her breath caught in her throat.</p><p>“Ransom.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Hate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chadwick Boseman will be remembered. Rest in power and peace, King.<br/>I'm sorry for the late update, guys... remember when I said that i had a lot of ideas for this one? yeah, that... just kinda completely fell through for a while. I was feeling highly unmotivated for Some Lie for quite a while, until I realized that this, and you guys, deserved an update. i don't know how i managed to complete this, but i did. each chapter feels like forever now, lol. Leave me some motivation for this, maybe? any little comment works for me, honestly.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>Hate</h1>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The next time Julia saw Ransom after the party and their little flirting, was in front of her dorm room door, as he came out of another room just facing hers.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>In all honesty, Julia had spent the next couple of days after the party thinking about her interaction with the strange, compelling boy with the most magnetic, yet intense eyes she’d ever looked into. The night after the party, she’d come back to her dorm room, her mind echoing with thoughts she didn’t want to acknowledge just yet, and quietly gone to sleep, only to dream of heavy smoke and cold, blue eyes.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>So, to see the star of her dreams in front of her dorm room coming out of another room was indeed a surprise, and not a very pleasant one. His appearance was messy and hurried, like he had put clothes on in a matter of a few minutes. His hair, which had been fairly neat the night of the party, was now disheveled, strands lousily slanting every which way. His jaw was covered with a light shadow, which only served to emphasize its angular sharpness, and Julia couldn’t help but think that he couldn’t possibly look more attractive at that moment, at least to her.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>As she exited the room and closed the door behind him, trying to be as silent as possible, his eyes shot up to Julia’s, and a sly, small smirk upturned the right side of his mouth.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>His lips.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>They had starred in her dreams too.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Party girl.” He slowly stalked towards her. Julia suppressed the urge to shrink back, away from his cocky, almost predatory gaze. “It was… Julia, right?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She beheld his gaze brazenly, feeling much braver than she’d had that evening at the party. He’d just caught me at a vulnerable moment, she reasoned with herself. My stupid timid behavior had nothing to do with him. “Yes. I can’t remember who’s asking, though.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Humor sparked in his eyes, and his mouth twitched into a smile. “Come on, you remember me.” His smile morphed into something flirtier. “You know that, too.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Her gaze remained blank, devoid of any recognition whatsoever. She willed it to remain that way.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He saw that too.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wanna go for a walk? We could smoke again.” He smirked at her. “You know you want to.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Her eyes narrowed defensively. “I don’t want to do anything with you. Especially not smoke again.” She started walking away from him. He caught up with her in one long stride.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey,” he caught her hand in his. His smooth voice was uncharacteristically soft. “Just one coffee. That’s all I ask.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Julia stared at him. “What?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>His mouth twitched. “I just asked you out. So we could get some coffee.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice low with underlying pain and frustration.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Why am I doing what?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She laughed mirthlessly. He can’t understand? He seriously can’t understand what he’s doing to me? “Why are you doing-” she gestured between the both of them vaguely, “this? I think it’s pretty clear that you don’t usually have any sort of follow up with your hookups.” She sent a pointed glance at the dorm door he’d just exited from. He caught that.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Is that what you think that was? A hookup?” His voice matched her low tone. She couldn’t catch any emotion underneath it. He moved closer to her, and Julia took an instinctive, minuscule step back. He continued in the low, seductive purr. “Then maybe it’s time I let you know something. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since that night.” A slow, evil smirk spread on his enrapturing mouth. “And I think you haven’t either.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Julia took a deliberate deep breath. The air around them felt too heavy, too full of his intoxicating scent, and she felt light-headed, even after taking the much-needed breath. His dangerous, overwhelming proximity to her snatched away from her, her sense of rational thinking, her sense of self. She couldn’t feel herself anymore. She couldn’t feel. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>There was nothing but his breath wafting over her forehead, smelling of peppermint and ruin.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She didn’t know why she did what she did, but she most certainly didn’t regret it; at least until much later.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Much, much later.</span>
  </em>
</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fancy seeing you here.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“You told me to meet you here, you oaf.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He just laughed. Julia stirred her coffee warily. She couldn’t relax in his presence anymore. Not when there were so many things about him that just screamed at her to run. Most of all, her instinct, and the buried hint of sparkling recklessness and danger.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She couldn’t exactly stay guarded for very long when he was that relaxed, either.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>In a dark brown sweatshirt and plain navy-blue jeans, he looked as harmless and well-dressed as she’d ever seen him. Her eyes scanned his appearance restlessly for the black leather jacket that she had strangely gotten used to seeing on his shoulder. She couldn’t deny, even to herself, that she missed the leather jacket.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“So,” he sat back lazily and shrugged his shoulders. “What do you want to talk about.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Julia wanted to laugh but restrained from doing so immediately. She knew anything she did right then would be riddled with hysteria and nervousness. She knew it.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Seriously? You asked me out, and I’m supposed to tell you what we should talk about?” She smiled, sarcasm laced in the slight twist of her lips. “How gentlemanly of you.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m nothing if not gentlemanly, Miss…” He tilted his head slightly. “What’s your surname?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She laughed, and it wasn’t that bad. It was manageable. She could manage herself. The tension in her shoulders dissipated. “Manson.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>An awkward silence set over them, heavy and tangible. Ransom’s eyes roamed her face impatiently. She couldn’t look back. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She hated it. The absolute control he had over her. The way she submitted to the power in his eyes, her will and strength failing to stand, one string at a time. As she ran her finger along the rim of her warm coffee cup, she knew he’d had power over her since they’d stood on the outside of that party and smoked together. And by the way he was looking at her then, she felt like he knew it too.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“What’s your major?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Finance,” Julia answered. “What about you?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Literature and Economics.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Really?” she asked, surprised, “you’re a literature major?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He unexpectedly laughed. “Why does that surprise everyone so much?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Because… well, you don’t really look like the kind of person who would study literature.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Oh really?” he drawled rhetorically. “What kind of a person do I look like?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I don’t know,” she laughed awkwardly, “Business?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The tension between them faded away, bit by bit. They could almost be friends after that. Almost.</span>
  </em>
</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>
    <span><br/>
</span>
  </em>
  <span>...As her door opened, her eyes met </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Those eyes. They had haunted her nights and ruined her days for three weeks. Those eyes had broken her more times than she could count, and pulled her back together because that’s just what they did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Those </span>
  <em>
    <span>liar</span>
  </em>
  <span> eyes. They’d deceived Julia her entire life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her breath caught in her throat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ransom.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Julia.” he breathed, and there was so much pain in that one word. Julia heard it, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>felt</span>
  </em>
  <span> it. She couldn’t bring herself to </span>
  <em>
    <span>understand</span>
  </em>
  <span> it, though. She still didn’t understand him. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Even when she felt what he felt. Even when she felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>him.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please go away, Ransom. Can’t you give me some space?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Space? How much more space do you need?” he held the closing door open with his right hand alone, “It’s been three weeks, Julia. Three fucking weeks of you ignoring me every time I…” he trailed off with a deep and long exhale. “I’m tired, Julia. I’m tired of all of this. Just tell me what I can do.” he paused to breathe, as if he was running out of it. “Just… Please.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julia couldn’t register his words. Her mind felt strained as she tried to think of the last time she’d seen him like that, until she could and that grounded her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The last time she’d seen him like this…</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The last time was years ago. And she had forgiven him then, too. And that had turned out to be the biggest mistake she’d ever made, so this time she wasn’t going to let things go the same way they had back then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you going to let me in? It’s still raining and I’m…” he picked a strand of wet hair off his face to emphasize his point, “...drenched.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julia pursed her lips but opened the door wider anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He immediately stepped into her house, dripping cold rainwater everywhere unapologetically. “Hold on,” she murmured under her breath as she stepped away from his large form as he stood in front of her drawing-room as awkwardly as a person like him could.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She vanished into her room and came back outside with a towel. “I’ve kept some dry clothes in the bathroom inside if you would like to change,” her voice was softer and lower than her usual commandeering and bossy tone that she mostly used with him. It reminded him of the Julia he’d known in college. </span>
  <em>
    <span>All of the shit she’s gone through changed her. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I </span>
  <em>
    <span>changed her.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked like he was going to refuse, like he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> just dripping all over her living-room floor, but he seemingly changed his mind and went inside with a muttered “Fine,” anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After he stepped into her room to change, the silence, in the room and her mind, was jarring. She’d only just noticed the heavy thunderstorm taking place outside because of Ransom’s arrival. Her mind mulled over that fact for a second, and instead of feeling all warm and pleased that he had traveled through a thunderstorm to come to her house and apologize to her, she felt… nothing. There was nothing but an eerie and heavy numbness. An unfeeling numbness that clouded her mind all of those past weeks. A numbness whose presence she’d only just come to realize now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After ten long minutes of badly-disguised impatience, he came back into her drawing-room wearing her oversized college sweatpants that fit him just fine and his white undershirt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julia’s mouth went dry at the sight of him. It always had. It still did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If he noticed it, he didn’t comment. He just stared at her eyes as she looked at him. She held his gaze. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’ll give you as good as I get.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He gave her a look, which the both of them were too stubborn to break. It felt like an eternity. Every moment with him felt like one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He raised an eyebrow, a silent challenge so characteristic of him, just so </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ransom,</span>
  </em>
  <span> that she felt anger rush through her like a wild, violent fire. Her blood rushed to her head, her face, and she felt dizzy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dizzy out of anger. Dizzy out of his proximity. The proximity that had stayed all the time they hadn’t even been close to each other. His closeness ran in her blood, caressed her skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want, Ransom?” she broke the silence, not bothering to keep her patience this time around. Her voice was gritty, like she hadn’t unlocked her jaw since he’d entered her house.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I…” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “I just want you to talk to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julia laughed. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Talk</span>
  </em>
  <span> to you? About what? There’s nothing I can trust you enough to share with you.” Her eyes burned out of unknown emotion. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nothing.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Julia,” his tone took on an almost begging quality. “I know I fucked up. It was me this time, and I swear-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want you to leave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ransom’s eyes widened slightly. Out of fear, out of surprise, she couldn’t discern. She couldn’t bring herself to care. “What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her voice was cool. It couldn’t be considered to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>cold,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but cool like the pleasant temperature of water kept in an air-conditioned room for a while. The kind that felt perfect against parched lips in humid summer. The kind that didn’t hurt anymore. “I said, I want you to leave. There’s nothing left to be said between the both of us right now. We’re both just wasting our time and-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“-that’s not what you-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know what I said!” she snapped, finally. Her nails dug into her palm painfully. Her chest felt it was rapidly losing tension, and she felt better for the first time in weeks.</span>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She cleared her throat to regain her composure. “I think you should really just leave. Both of us know that… things are just not meant to be between us, and it was a major…” -she looked at him with hardened, crystalline eyes- “a </span>
  <em>
    <span>big</span>
  </em>
  <span> mistake to draw this out for as long as we did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ransom was silent. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Remote </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>calm </span>
  </em>
  <span>would and wouldn’t describe his attitude then. There was something knowing, yet sad in the look he gave her in that moment, like he knew he deserved all of her hatred.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He knew Julia was right in her assessment of them just staying away from each other. It wasn’t what she deserved. Not by a landslide.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was a cruel, manipulative lowlife who only ever </span>
  <em>
    <span>ruined.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was the bright flame of hope who had only tried to help him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll go,” he said quietly, almost unfamiliar in all of his silence. The quiet hit Julia more than the cockiness ever did. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is this… my fault? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Some part of her wondered, the thought disappearing as soon as it’d appeared.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julia stayed put by the couch, still and unmoving as a wall, her arms folded around her chest tightly. She watched with cool eyes that regretted nothing as he walked to the door, and opened it precariously, cold rainwater gushing into the room in drops of erratic slants almost immediately.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell me something,” he paused by the door. His eyes looked colder and more like his usual self now- predatory and self-assured. “Do you hate me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you hate me?” he coolly repeated the question to her like she was an impatient toddler.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julia felt a rush of anger burning through her veins again. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Only he does this to me. It’s only ever him.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do I hate you?” she quietly turned the question back to him. And then she laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>loathe </span>
  </em>
  <span>you. I can’t tolerate you more every step you take into my house. Like you’re corrupting that like everything else in your life,” She looked up, her low voice seething with fiery, regret-tinged hate. “I hate you more every time you remind me that I shouldn’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The silence was magnified and louder with the door open, the loud, whirling air swirling and tousling his already-messy hair further. The howls of the storm outside made her ears ring and her head feel like it was about to burst.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ransom only nodded; like he was expecting her words again. The return of his smug and knowing behavior hit her somewhere in the chest like a punch, just this time it was delivering pain instead of anger. In unbelievable, thawing doses that left her feeling more hollow than she’d felt before his arrival.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The door slammed shut with his departure; though if it was meant or not was unknown because of the pressure and force of the storm outside. She wished it would all stop.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hollowness took over completely after that.</span>
</p><hr/>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>if you've read this far, you're my hero. i was feeling completely out of ideas by the end, and i think it shows... I've been working on All We Know is Falling (that's my Peter Parker x MJ fic) for sometime now, and i've gotten ahead quite a bit too, so if you're following that, you can expect an update for that soon too... I've got a <a href="https://twitter.com/ViolaSkyefanfic">twitter</a> and a <a href="violaskye.tumblr.com">tumblr</a>, so if you wanna know... about what i'm up to, you can follow me there, if you want. Thank you so much for reading and leave a review you would like you; they really make me feel very motivated :))<br/>Love, me.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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